Developer creates tool that beeps every time computer sends data to Google

Developer Bert Hubert (@bert_hu_bert) has made a “very very simple” yet effective demo app that makes a beep sound every time the computer it is installed on sends any type of data to Google.

Big tech companies, including Facebook, Google and Amazon are notorious for tracking user data to ‘offer a better and personalized user experience.’ But according to the tool Hubert has developed, called Googerteller, the company actually has its finger way deeper than one would expect.

I made a very very simple tool that makes some noise every time your computer sends data to Google. Here a demo on the official Dutch government jobs site. The noise starts while typing the domain name already. Code, currently Linux only: https://t.co/ZjKeOSfYff pic.twitter.com/dEr8ktIGdo

— Bert Hubert 🇺🇦 (@bert_hu_bert) August 21, 2022

According to 9to5Google, Googerteller essentially works by using a list of IP addresses that are associated with several Google services, and any time your computer makes a connection with any of the IP addresses, Googerteller makes a beep sound, indicating that some type of data has been transferred over. A quick look at Hubert’s demo video shows that the application starts beeping as soon he starts typing in the address bar. In the video, Hubert has turned on auto-suggestions, which could explain the beeping.

Hubert then went to the Dutch government’s job website, and surprisingly, almost every click made on the website resulted in a beeping sound. While Hubert was using Chrome, which happens to be Google’s product, the results were the same when the tool was used on Firefox.

I did a demo of the Google noisemaker that makes some noise every time your computer talks to Google. This demo was based on Google Chrome & made lots of noise. People told me to expect this, since it was Chrome. Here is a video showing the exact same thing on Firefox: pic.twitter.com/btFbIbEivg

— Bert Hubert 🇺🇦 (@bert_hu_bert) August 22, 2022

The tool is currently only designed to work with Linux-based operating systems, and the required tools are available on GitHub here. While the tool won’t stop your computer from sending over data, it’s at least good to know when it’s being sent over.

However, you can learn about how you can enable privacy settings like tracker blocking in Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Safari here.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Source: Ber Hubert (@bert_hu_bert) Via: 9to5Google